Silicon storage firm 1414 Degrees slides on ASX debut

"The company has a very strong future based on its products and patience is required as the company installs and proves its products," said Kevin Moriarty, chairman of 1414 Degrees. He is pictured with a silicon-based Thermal Energy Storage System (TESS) under construction at the company's Adelaide plant.
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Kevin Moriarty, chairman of 1414 Degrees, said the energy storage firm's 35 per cent slide on its ASX debut was disappointing and patience would be needed for shareholders to realise the full potential of the molten silicon technology.

Shares in the Adelaide-based company slid 12.5¢ to end the day at 22.5¢ on turnover of 3.76 million shares shares. The company raised $16.3 million at an issue price of 35¢.

"The company has a very strong future based on its products and patience is required as the company installs and proves its products," Mr Moriarty said.

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Mr Moriarty didn't attribute the shortfall in the capital raising and the initial sell-off to the fact that 1414 Degrees hasn't yet installed and commissioned a pilot storage device in a customer's premises.

Rather, he said the supporters may have been put off by the $2100 minimum subscription, with 90 per cent of shareholders subscribing $10,000 or less, and he expected the selling would be shortlived.

'Profit taking'

"There's no reason that there would be a continued negative on the stock because our deliveries are yet to come over the next six to 12 months and we have sufficient funds to deliver on that."

He said he thought the sellers were private investors who got in at prices as low as 10¢ rather than those who subscribed at 35¢ ahead of the ASX listing.

"I just think you are looking at some people taking a profit - and probably a small group," he said.

The company expects to deliver its first pilot unit to SA Water next month - a 10 megawatt hour gas Thermal Energy Storage Device or TESS which the utility will use to process sewage - for commissioning on site by the end of the year.

It is in talks with poultry processor Pepe's Ducks and corrugated packaging group AustCor in NSW about further pilots involving the 10 MWh unit.

Ultimately the company wants to provide larger 200 MWh TESS units to utilities and large industrial energy users and Mr Moriarty said he had encountered strong interest from utilities at the US Electrification 2018 Conference in Longbeach, California, last month.

He said the US has similar energy reliability challenges to Australia ranging from high renewable energy penetration in California to energy and heat security in the northeastern states, where gas prices can soar in the winter as demand exceeds pipeline capacity.